Middle Bit: Multiple student startup events happening in October

Photo courtesy of the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center

Iowa Startup Games

Iowa Startup Games, a three-day event where students, from all areas of study, pitch their ideas to have an impact will take place October 26-28.

Students will start off by sharing their ideas and will then form teams and work together to bring the best ideas to life. On the third and final day, each team will pitch to a group of panelists for a chance to win cash prizes.

Not only will students have the opportunity to develop their ideas and grow their professional network, but they will also be able to earn a credit hour, at no cost.

Students must be able to attend the majority of the weekend events, teams depend on their members for help and support.

If a student does not have a startup idea, they will be able to choose an idea and join that team. Iowa Startup Games is designed to create a new business, with a team, over a weekend.

Startup Pitch Event

Students will have the chance to pitch their business concept or idea in a 90-second elevator pitch to a panel of judges.

The winner of the Best Overall Pitch will have the option of attending the CEO National Conference and advancing to the National CEO Pitch Competition. They will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Kansas City from November 1-3, 2018, and will represent Iowa State in the national competition.

Registration is limited to the first 30 ISU students to apply.

What else is happening?

Missouri

St. Louis-based Gremlin Social, a social media marketing solution featuring the only American Bankers Association-endorsed compliance tools, recently acquired two companies as part of its strategic expansion. –Silicon Prairie News

Wisconsin

Avid Ratings, a Madison WI-based real estate software company that has been operating since 1992 but is now seeking to fuel its growth with cash from venture capital investors, says it has raised $6 million as part of a Series A funding round. –Xconomy

Illinois

A University of Chicago biotechnology startup is closer to developing a first-of-its-kind drug to prevent kidney stones thanks to $2.3 million from the National Institutes of Health. Oxalo Therapeutics was founded in February by Dr. Hatim Hassan, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, and Yang Zheng, a student at the university’s Booth School of Business. –Chicago Business